Sommaire pour September 2016 de Digital Camera Magazine

CHARL SENEKAL SECOND RUNNER-UP, BLACK AND WHITE “This was one image we never planned on getting. It occurred by chance while we were working at the site of a new hide. Seconds after we arrived at the waterhole, a breeding herd of elephants appeared from the bush. The overcast conditions forced me to photograph for a black-and-white conversion. The contrast between the elephants and the lighter sky forced me to choose my own exposure to maintain details in the subjects and the sky.” Kit Nikon D810 Exposure 1/500 sec at f/2.8, ISO 160, EV 0; 24mm focal length. Nature’s Best Photography celebrates the beauty and diversity of nature through the art of photography. The African contest extends this global programme, bringing special attention to the spectacular diversity of Africa’s flora…

9 FREE TIPS CARDS Check out your free lens cards with this issue WHICH LENS? CHOOSE THE RIGHT LENS Deciding which lens you need for the task is the key to getting great results FROM the standard ‘kit’ zoom lens supplied with many cameras to expensive and specialised wide-angle and telephoto lenses, there’s a bewildering array of options available for your SLR or CSC. So how do you choose which lens is best for you? Ask yourself about the type of result you want to achieve and what features you want. The first choice to consider is focal length. You need to decide whether you need a wider view to allow yourself to include more of the scene, or a longer focal length to pick out smaller or distant subjects.…

THIS MONTH: CAMERA SENSORS How does your camera turn light that’s piped through the lens into a digital image? WHILE autofocus accuracy and speed, continuous shooting rate, buffer size and build quality are all important considerations when choosing a camera, it’s the performance of the camera’s imaging sensor that really matters most. How the sensor responds to the light collected by the lens is key to the quality of your photographs, with the degree of detail the sensor is capable of resolving, the range of brightness it can record and the amount of noise that’s created laying the foundations for the final, processed image. Your camera’s sensor is made up of millions of individual light-sensitive photosites, commonly referred to as pixels. These can be minute – a fraction of the…

How did you become a documentary photographer? I initially studied product design for my first degree between 2000 to 2003. There were some add-on courses on photography, including darkroom skills, and that got me started. I kept photography up after graduating and did some travelling. I sent some images to a travel magazine competition, and one was selected for exhibition, which struck a chord. After that I did a bit of assisting work, which I didn’t really enjoy, before freelancing and then working full‑time on a local newspaper. What lessons did you learn on the newspaper? It was a big learning curve; I had no formal training in photography and had to pick things up as I went along. I’d be doing six to eight jobs a day, and couldn’t…

TELEPHOTO LENS WWW.SONY.CO.UK SPECIFICATIONS Full-frame compatible Yes Effective focal length 70-300mm full-frame (105-450mm APS-C) Image stabiliser Yes Minimum focus distance 0.9m magnification factor 0.31x Manual focus override Yes Focus limit switch Yes Internal zoom/focus No/Yes Filter size 72mm Iris blades Nine Weather seals Yes Supplied accessories Hood, caps, soft case Dimensions (dia x length) 84 x 144mm Weight 854g Think 70-300mm telephoto zooms and you’re probably thinking budget lenses that are a rung or two down the quality ladder from fast 70-200mm optics. That’s not always the case, however, with the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM one obvious exception. The new Sony 70-300mm follows a similar path, with a high-end build, features and specifications. Build & handling This lens is no lightweight at nearly a kilogram. Even so, it’s…

www.lastolite.com Lastolite Trigrip Reflector 75cm Sunlite/Soft Silver £55/$65 A chunky handle and robust build make this reflector a pleasure to use. Silver and white pinstripes on one side give a neutral reflection, while the flip side features silver and gold stripes to add warmth. www.profoto.com Profoto Reflector Gold/White M £73/$79 At 80cm square unfolded, here’s a reflector that’s ideal for full-length portraiture. Two quality handles make it easily manageable, and it folds into a convenient 35cm pouch when you’ve finished. The top-quality build further justifies the price. www.manfrotto.com Manfrotto Circular Panel 60cm 5:1 Kit £34/$57 This mini-modifier set consists of a handy diffuser and a reversible cover with gold, sunfire (pale gold), silver and white surfaces. However, some larger fivein-one panels pack down almost as small but are more versatile…

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NEW COMPACT SYST EM CAMERA X-TRA SPECIAL? Fujifilm’s new flagship X-T2 brings a number of firsts to the popular ‘X’ range of CSCs YOU won’t have to wait long for the successor to one of the best compact system cameras around: Fujfilm has confirmed that it’ll be available from 8 September. The Fujfilm X-T2 takes the successful premium analogue camera feel of the X-T1 and sharpens it up in all the right places. Some of the improvements are to be expected. For instance, video gets a boost in the shape of the soon-to-be standard 4K recording, a first for an X Series model. The X-T2 supports Clean HDMI output and a bitrate of 100Mbps, with frame rates of up to 30fps at the highest resolution – Full HD can go…

With thanks to our guides, Kazuto Yamaki and Paul Reynolds of Sigma It’s not every day that you get to see behind the doors of a state-of-art factory in Japan and witness first hand how a lens is made. However, Digital Camera was recently invited to do just that, with a personal guided tour from Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki. Mr Yamaki’s father, Michihiro Yamaki, founded Sigma in 1961, and the first factory was built on this site in Aizu in 1974. While it’s still at the same location, the site has evolved and grown considerably in the last 42 years, while Sigma’s production philosophy has remained largely unchanged during that time. Sigma is committed to a vertically integrated in-house manufacturing system so it can maximise quality at the lowest cost.…

# 1 AMAZING AURORAS The winner of this year’s International Earth and Sky Photo Contest THIS dramatic image of the Aurora Borealis was taken by Norwegian photographer Alex Conu from the top of Mount Reinebringen, in the Lofoten Islands to the north of the country. “The village you can see in the image is Reine, considered to be the most scenic in Norway,” Alex explains. “I live in Reine and I go on top of Reinebringen quite often. The day I took the photo, I decided to hike up the mountain in the afternoon, as I knew something was brewing. Besides my degree in photography, I have a BSc in astrophysics, so it’s a bit easier for me to forecast Aurora outbursts.” Alex had been planning the image for quite…

ELLI OTT’S WORK The hide that Elliott has set up for little owl photography has been designed to be comfortable for one photographer, although it can accomodate two people if required. The other hides on the farm can sit up to three people. Helen Browning’s Organic Eastbrook Farm is set in 1,400 acres of rolling British countryside on the North Wiltshire Downs. Wildlife photographer Elliott Neep spent the summer of 2013 there, on a commission to simply observe the wildlife and photograph what he could, using a pop-up hide in the back of his 4×4. Elliott quickly discovered a vibrant community of wildlife, from badgers, foxes and roe deer to owls, buzzards and skylarks, and many more species besides. Eventually the thought occurred to him: “Others would want to photograph…

SL R www.nikon.com SPECIFICATIONS Sensor DX-format CMOS, 20.9MP Crop factor 1.5x Memory 1 x SD, 1 x XQD Viewfinder Optical pentaprism, 1x magnification, 100% coverage Video resolution 4K (UHD) 3,840 x 2,160 pixels at 30/25/24fps, Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 pixels at 60/50/30/25/24fps ISO range 100-51,200, expands to 50-1,640,000 Autofocus points 153, including 99 cross-type; 15 points sensitive down to f/8 Burst rate 10fps Max buffer capacity 200 shots LCD screen Tilting 3.2-inch touchscreen, 2,359,000 dots Shutter speeds 1/8,000 sec to 30 sec, Bulb, timer, sync 1/250 sec Weight (body only) 760g Dimensions 147 x 115 x 81mm Power supply EN-EL15 battery NIKON is one of the world’s top digital SLR makers, but for some time it’s had a big gap in its camera line-up. Canon has an affordable highspeed,…

THE CONTENDERS 1 Cokin P series £53/$74 2 C okin Z-Pro series £139/$221 3 Formatt Hitech 85mm £93/$151 4 Formatt Hitech Lucroit 100mm £234/$347 5 Lee Filters Seven5 £241/$310 6 Lee Filters 100 £272/$425 (£289/$451 wide-angle) 7 SR B Photographic A Series £40/$56 8 SR B Photographic P Series Pro £50/$70 You face a major choice when buying filters: whether to go for round or square. Round filters screw in directly to the front of the lens, so they’re good for clear or UV filters you might use for permanent protection. But they have their limitations. For example, stacking filters will likely lead to extreme vignetting. Square or rectangular filters are often a much more viable option. You’ll probably only need to buy one filter holder, plus a set of…

www.twitter.com/helenstills Which photographer (living or dead) would you like to have round for dinner? Vivian Maier. I’d love to know what made her tick. She’s such an enigma. What’s your favourite place on earth? Iceland or Ireland – because they’re both home to me. What’s on your memory card right now? Nothing – I’ve been formatting and getting prepared for my seventh (plus pilot) season of Game of Thrones! To crop or not to crop? Not – unless there’s something very unsightly that has crept into frame and can’t be retouched. What features at the top of your bucket list? There are so many places I’d like to visit, but I think Japan is top of the list. What’s in your kit bag right now? Lots of Nikon cameras and…

PROJECT 1 Capture invisible light! Get results that look out of this world by shooting with an infrared filter ALTHOUGH infrared light is invisible to the human eye, it is possible to catch it incamera if you use either a filter attached to the lens or shoot with a converted infra-red camera. Paolo Pettigiani achieved this Alice in Wonderland result in New York simply using an infra-red filter. Paolo headed to Central Park with his Canon 5D Mk II, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, and tripod (in readiness for a long exposure time), as he knew the conditions in the summer would be perfect for what he wanted to achieve. Paolo was looking for lots of greens contrasting against the grey buildings to get the best result. “You have to find the…

LENS design and technology has come a long way since the simple pinhole, or even the first interchangeable lenses. While the basic features of lenses, such as the focal length and the aperture range, have been around for decades, and are relatively easy to understand, modern lenses contain loads of technology and features to help produce higher-quality images and more convenient operation. The basic features have also been greatly refined along the way. Like most other advances in technology, progress comes at a price. Along with the basic information, lenses now have loads of initials and words in the name or description, which can be difficult to decipher. They all refer to a few basic features, though: ‘IS’ in the name of a Canon lens and ‘VR’ in the name…

URBAN PHOTOGRAPHY For this month’s Shootout, Ben Brain tasked two photographers to capture eye-catching details and shapes in the urban landscape READER 1 Rebecca Dixon CAMERA: Canon EOS 70D LOCATION: Finsbury Park, North London AS a brand manager for an online gaming company in the heart of London, Bex is in the right place to work on her urban photography. But her portfolio is varied, ranging from portraits to abstract and nature. She also takes on weekly photography challenges to help to push her skills further. Bex shoots with Canon equipment and packed a 16-35mm f/2.8L lens and a 24-70mm f.2.8L lens for the shoot in Bristol. www.rebeccadixonphotography.com READER 2 Dan Howarth Camera: Nikon D810 Location: Huddersfield, West Yorkshire Self-employed as a dog walker and with a growing family, Dan…

1 Winner Ian Howard As this shot demonstrates, it pays to look at your subject from a different angle! Well done to Ian for taking this superb shot. He has fully embraced the shadows and silhouettes theme, and there are a couple of key elements that he’s used to make this set up work. First, the tight framing of the shot removes surrounding distractions and creates an abstract result. Second, the high-key black and white treatment emphasises the dark shapes of the shoes pressed against the white floor. A simple yet effective result that wins Ian a Lowepro Photo Hatchback. Kit Nikon D700 with 24-70mm f/2.8 lens Exposure 1/8,000 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200 2 Laurence Bouchard There are so many shapes created here that we’ve lost count! This image…

William Eggleston is a pioneer of colour photography who creates art from the everyday world around us. He concentrates on the most commonplace subjects – a rusty child’s bicycle, advertising hoardings, discarded objects at the side of the road, shoppers at a supermarket – and makes us look at them afresh. Now 77, he’s regarded as one of the most influential fine-art photographers of the late 20th century. How did he get into photography? He was born into a wealthy family in Memphis, Tennessee, where his maternal grandparents owned a 5,000-acre cotton plantation. His grandfather bought his first camera at the age of 10, but he didn’t become really interested in photography until he saw Henri Cartier-Bresson’s book The Decisive Moment in 1959. The book inspired him to start making…

SLR www.pentax.co.uk SPECIFICATIONS Sensor 36.4MP full-frame CMOS Focal length conversion 1x Memory 2 x SD/SDHC/SDXC (inc UHS-I) Viewfinder Optical pentaprism, 100% coverage, 0.7x magnification Max video resolution Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) up to 30p/60i ISO range 100-204,800 Autofocus points 33-point phasedetection AF, inc 25 cross-type Max burst rate 4.4fps Screen 3.2-inch, 1,037,000 dots, flexi-tilt Shutter speeds 30-1/8,000 sec, Bulb Weight 1,010g (including battery and memory card) Dimensions 137 x 110 x 86mm Power supply D-LI90(B) rechargeable lithium-ion battery The Pentax K-1 has all the characteristics we’ve come to expect, including a rugged build and innovative features CANON and Nikon have had the full-frame SLR market to themselves for a long time. Their only mainstream rival has been Sony, with its full-frame SLT and mirrorless Alpha 7 models – but…